Melbourne Disability Institute: Grant success

Dr Clare Glover-Wright has been awarded a grant by the Melbourne Disability Institute to work on a project entitled: Measuring and valuing health-related Quality-of life in women and female adolescents who experience persistent pelvic pain: Which tools are best to use?

Persistent, or chronic, pelvic pain is defined as ‘pain in the area of the pelvis that has been present on most days for more than 6 months’ with 15-25% of women affected. The assessment of pelvic pain in women is a significantly under-researched area with women historically undertreated, or mistreated, compared to men. Therefore, assessing a woman’s health-related quality-of-Life is paramount for understanding how any intervention can impact their life. For women’s pain to be properly assessed, and ultimately for equality to be realised in health, women who experience persistent pelvic pain need to confirm whether the tools used to assess health-related quality-of-life are appropriate.

Health-related quality-of-life tools exist which are uniquely designed to produce an assessment which can be used to produce a Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) which is a measure of disease burden combining the quality and quantity of life lived. Across the world, Health administrations have set thresholds as to when an intervention should be funded dependent upon the ‘cost per QALY’ and therefore the cost-effectiveness. Together, with the safety and efficacy profile from clinical trials, the QALY is an essential outcome for any health regulator to decide whether an intervention will be funded. However, given the range of tools available there is limited evidence in the content validity of health-related quality-of-life tools that are specific, or generic, to pain and which have been evaluated by women.

This project will address this research gap by conducting a qualitative study where a focus group of women who experience persistent pelvic pain will assess three health-related quality-of-life tools (EQ-HWB, EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D) for their appropriateness to the women’s condition/s and lives.